2011: a year dominated by Bridesmaids, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the final chapter of Harry Potter at the box office. On the radio, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Rihanna, and Adele were taking over the airwaves.
On the world stage, we had the Arab Spring, the death of Osama bin Laden, and, in more upbeat news, we finally had the royal wedding between William and Kate (more on that later).
Everywhere you went, you were likely to see colored denim and dip-dyed hair.
But what was everyone naming their kids that year? And why? Here’s a look at the top 2011 names for boys and girls.
2011 Boy Names
Kicking off with the boys, we see Jacob holding onto its previously held number 1 spot. With Twilight mania in full swing, although nearing its end, it seems Team Jacob was really winning here with the name Edward nowhere in sight.
In second place is Mason. This was down in 12th place the previous year, having never even been in the top 25 before then, and is thought to have shot up since Kourtney Kardashian decided to give this name to her son.
William rose two places from 5th place in 2010 to 3rd place in 2011, no doubt due to the wonderful royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, now Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
The fastest-growing boys name on the list is Brantley, being attributed to either country singer Brantley Gilbert or USF quarterback John Brantley. Or maybe even both!
The second-highest riser for the boys is Iker. You may be thinking this is a strange name you’ve never heard of before, but when we tell you that Iker Casillas Fernandez is the internationally renowned goalkeeper for both Real Madrid and the Spanish National team (playing for Spain during their 2010 World Cup win), it makes sense.
Here are the top 2011 baby names for boys:
Most Popular Boy Names in 2011
2011 Girl Names
The most popular name for baby girls in 2011 was Sophia, for its first time at number 1 and the 4th different girls name in the top spot in the past 5 years, knocking Isabella from its throne into 2nd place which, just like Jacob over in the boys’ side, is another tasteful reference to the all-powerful Twilight movies. It would seem that perhaps Twilight isn’t so much in full swing as we thought while looking at the boys’ side, with the franchise starting to wind down and with more than its fair share of detractors, perhaps this was as good a sign as any that the franchise’s foothold in pop culture was coming to an end.
Film, TV, and pop culture in general continues to be a trend here with the girls too as you look at the other most popular names from 2011 with Briella being the fastest-growing girls name of the year. One can only assume this was in honor of Jersylicious and Glam Fairy star Briella Calafiore, and Angelique following up as the second biggest climber, named for Angelique Bouchard, the character played by Eva Green in 2010’s remake of the popular 1960’s show Dark Shadows.
Here are the top 2011 baby names for girls: